Picture or name-plate holder.



No. 669,4l2. Patented Mar. 5, l90l.

. m. c. HARBIMAN.

PICTURE 08 NAME PLATE HDLDEB.

(Application filed 8m 4, 1900.)

(No Model.)

WITNESSES:

v I a B) Tm: uumus PETERS w. momu'rwq. WASHINGTON, u. c.

IN VE N 70/? Moses Cffiarrzhz'am Umrn STATES MOSES C. I-IARRIMAN, OF SOUTH BERWIOK, MAINE.

PICTURE OR NAME-PLATE HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 669,412, dated March 5, 1901.

Application filed January 4, 1900. Serial No 347. (No model.)

To aZZ whom (It may concern.-

Be it known that I, Moms 0. HARRIMAN, residing at South Berwick, in the county of York and State of Maine, have invented a new and Improved Picture or Name-Plate Holder, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of devices adapted to hold portraits, name-plates, and the like upon tombstones, door and vehicle fronts, 850., and in which the picture or name is held protected from air,'rain, and other like influences. In devices heretofore provided for this purpose it has been a common expedient to place the picture between two rigid bodies, one (or both) of which has been formed of glass, and to insert the said plates into a suitable surrounding frame and cement the same therein in a manner to keep out water, dirt, (inc. Devices of the character stated that include means such as described for holding the picture within the frame in holding the picture from becoming easily destroyed by changes in temperature, which, particularly when the frames are constructed of metal, causes, by reason of their contraction and expansion, the glass plates to crack and renders them useless for their required purpose.

My invention generally embodies a suitable surrounding frame of any desired external shaperound, square, oblong, &c.and a picture-holding means having a transparent face; but my said invention differentiates from the type of holder hereinbefore referred to in that the picture is held between mica or other flexible transparent material, and the frame has the picture-holding seat so made as to permit the flexible and transparent holder being readily secured in place.

My invention also comprehends, in connection with the holding-frame proper, a pivotally-connected cover-plate having means for holding it up when swung out from over the side opening of the frame when the said frame is vertically held and for supporting the said cover to release its pivotal point from undue strain when the said frame is disposed in a horizontal position.

In its subordinate features my invention consists in certain novel features of construction, all of which will hereinafter be fully de scribed, and particularly specified in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals indicate like parts in all the views, Figure 1 illustrates my improved holder as applied to a tombstone. Fig. 2 is a front elevation showing the cover-plate swung up and held to such position. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the holder, showing its cover-plate swung out and supported by its restmember. Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the same, illustrating the preferred manner of securing the holder when applied to a stone base. Fig. 5 illustrates the several parts constituting myimprovement separated. Fig. 6 is a front elevation, parts being broken away, illustrating my improvement as applied for use as a door or carriage plate holder. Fig. 7 is a detail section of a portion of the holder, taken through one of the air-inlets 10.

In the practical construction my improvement comprises a frame 1, which may be of wood turned round, oval, or other shape, or may be a metal casing formed of the desired shapes or styles and ornamented according to the purposes required, and for some purposes, particularly for line tombstones, the frame may be made of porcelain. The frame 1 has a plate top l and the said top has a sightopening 2, the inner edge of which terminates at an annular rim, which forms a bearing against which the picture-holder is adapted to be pressed, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, and to provide for a weather-tight joint'or connection the annular flange is provided with a filling of cement 13, as clearly shown in Figs. at and 5. The outer or annular face of the frame is made slightly tapering for a purpose presently explained, and when the said face portion is made of metal or porcelain it need have no lateral projections for fastening it to the object to which it is intended to be attached; but when the said frame is made of wood it is preferably formed with lateral lugs 12, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 6, which are apertured for the reception of securing-screws.

The picture-holder proper consists of two sheets of flexible transparent material 3 3- as, for example, micaand between the said sheets the picture or other representation (indicated by 6) is adapted to be held, and in practice the said picture, on the score of durability, may be made of carbon-paper, or it may be finished in colors upon a celluloid film; or, if desired, the picture maybe photographed or painted directly upon the undermost transparent member 3, and to further render the picture proper water and air proof the said picture, if made of a separate piece, as indicated in Fig. 5, is of a slightly less diameter than the plates 3 3, whereby a filling of cement may be spread onthe outer opposing edges of the members 3 3, as clearly shown in Fig. 5.

In assembling the several parts of my improved device the picture -holder proper is pressed in against the cement filling in l and it is held in place by an annular rim of adhesive plastic cement S, which in practice is of sufficient thickness to overlap the rear edge of the holder, as shown in Fig. L, and to project under the base of the annular portion 1 of the frame, and forms a solid adhesive bearing against the stone or other body to which the holder is to be attached, forming thereby a simple and positive means for securing the holder to the desired object. When arranged as described, the device is securely held to the stone or other ceramic base with the internal space 9 between the stone and the picture-holder proper, which space communicates with the atmosphere through an opening 10 made through the rim 1 and the cement filling 8,'as shown in Fig. 4, it being understood that by having the opening on the under side of the frame danger of water entering the space 9 is entirely overcome.

The object in providing a space 9 to the rear of the picture is to permit of a free circulation of air back of it, thereby not only preventing the absorption of damp back of the picture, but also providing for keeping the cement filling 8 in a condition to the more effectively and longer remain as a positive means for holding the device securely fixed to the stone or other base.

By making the holder of two flexible transparent members and joining them, with the picture, as it were, into a single body which is flexible and impervious to Water, all danger of the holder cracking or otherwise breaking by changes in the temperature or by excessive jarring or rough handling is entirely overcome. As an additional means for keeping the weather from the picture holder proper the frame is provided with a swinging flat cover-plate 4, pivotally secured to the upper face of the frame by the pivot-screw 5, and the said plate 4 is formed with an upturned ear 4*, which serves as a finger-piece whereby the said plate can be conveniently turned to one side when it is desired to view the picture or other representation. Near its pivotal end and at the peripheral edge the plate 4 has a pendent ing 4:, which when the cover is turned to a closed position acts as a seat to limit the movement of the cover in that direction, as indicated in Fig. 6, and when the cover is swung to its outermost position the said lug acts as a convenient stop and rests, (see Fig. 3,) as it (the lug) engages the outer edge of the frame 1 and rests upon the flange 1, as shown, thereby relieving the pivot from carrying the entire Weight of the said cover-plate when such plate is swung outward, the flange 4* being particularly useful for this purpose when the device is supported in a vertical position on a tombstone, as indicated in Fig. 1.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is g 1. As an improved article of manufacture, a picture-holder for tombstones and the like, comprising a frame formed of an annular rim terminating at one edge in an inwardly-extending annular fiat face 1, means held within the annular rim for holding the picture, and a cover-plate 4, pivotally secured at one edge to the fiat portion 1, to swing sidewise in a plane therewith, said cover 4 having a pendent stop member adapted to engage with the rim l all being arranged substantially as shown and described.

2. As a new article of manufacture; a pic tore-holder comprising a frame having an inwardly-projecting annular rim, and a flat outer surface provided with a sight-opening, said rim having an annular bearing-flange surrounding the inside of the said sight-opening; a picture-holder held against the annular bearing-flange, the rim of the said frame projecting inwardly beyond the picture-holder, whereby an internal space to the rear of the said holder is provided; and an annular filling of adhesive material fitted within the rim and projected over the peripheral edges of the holder, said rim forming means for securing the holder to the stone or other body to which it is to be applied; and an air-inlet extending through the frame and the filling on the under side thereof, all being arranged substantially as shown and described.

MOSES O. HARRIMAN.

Witnesses:

W. H. Downs, I A. D. BRADEEN. 

